We like to play a road trip game I made up a few years ago. It's called "The House Game". We only play it during stretches of countryside, where houses are scattered about instead of being right next to each other. We begin the game by starting with the oldest person in the family, then work our way down the line to the youngest family member.
The first house we see is 'assigned' as Nathan's home, no matter what it looks like. The next house we see is mine, the next house after that is Sarah's house, etc. It's really fun, because inevitably someone gets a broken down shack or abandoned barn as their abode. Or the children exclaim in delight over who gets a trampoline or swing set in their yard, or who has a pet horse.
We laugh together over the old houses (I like to be assigned abandoned houses- it's so fun to say things like "Oh look! The roof is gone! Now I get to stargaze from my very own bed!" or "How convenient! There's no glass in the window frames- I can blow bubbles outside from my own couch!" We like to get silly in this game, praising all the defects as prized assets).
We enjoyed lovely vistas that took our breath away and generally the drive was enjoyable. We arrived in Provo and stayed with married siblings, Ben and Elena. Ben is an avid pet-owner who sort of collects a certain breed of gecko. If I remember correctly, he currently has 16 geckos and several incubating gecko eggs. Oh it was SO fun to play with his lizards! We all played and played with these little creatures for hours. These lizards were so endearing and so sweet.
This was a highlight of our Utah visit for sure.
Later that day we met up with Nathan's parents as they arrived in town just in time to meet up with us at Mama Chu's, a Mexican restaurant we visited for dinner. We ordered dinner for them and they arrived during the meal, perfect timing!
The next day we were joined by Lamby and Emily, two married sisters from Alaska. It was such a joyous reunion with everyone! We went to the BYU Museum of Art together to visit the very special "Sacred Gifts" exhibit. It's a collection of several original religious masterpieces created by three artists- Carl Bloch, Heinrich Hofmann, and Frans Schwartz.
I was very touched by this exhibit. I was already familiar with many of these paintings, since I grew up associated with these paintings in my religious upbringing. Prints of these paintings were used when I learned about the Bible, these prints hang in our church buildings, and are published in our religious literature. I grew up gazing at these masterpieces while I contemplated Christ's teachings. I never thought I would see the originals, so this was truly a powerful experience for me. I had an emotional connection to these masterpieces, and felt so in awe when I viewed the originals.
These masterpieces were shipped to BYU from their homes in Europe and NYC. These creations were installations in historic churches and castles and were never supposed to leave their buildings. This is the first (and reputably only) time they were allowed to leave their homes and be put on display somewhere else.
It was so interesting to read the story of how this display was made possible, and I was touched by the generosity and spirit of faith that was shared by the churches who owned these paintings. I felt the Spirit so strongly, strengthening my testimony and dedication to Jesus Christ. Once again I was powerfully motivated to follow His teachings better, to share His love more fully with those around me.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying being around family. We shopped at the BYU Bookstore (where I saw Stephanie Nielson doing a book signing) and spent 3 hours hunting for dresses at the local Deseret Industries. We all found some great-looking clothes and were excited with our found treasures (and Joseph threw up All Over the store. We were far away from the bathroom when he said, "Mom, I need to throw up". So. I caught it in my hand while I pushed the cart towards the bathroom with the other hand. And he left an orange trail of vomit 25 feet long as we tried to get him to a sink. Not so fun.) After that he felt perfectly fine again.
For dinner, Dad Kingsley (or Daddy Warbucks as he is affectionately called on occasion) treated us all to meals and shakes at the Iceberg Drive-In. It's a local favorite that he and Mom frequented in the past. The food was delicious, and the shakes were massive. We ordered the 'Mini' shake, and there must have been literally a quart of ice cream in this thing. It was delicious but there was no way we could more than just the tip of the iceberg (ha! A pun and it wasn't even intentional!), so we took them home to freeze for another day. I'll have to remember this place.
We finally crashed for the night at Aunt MaryAnns house. (Well, the girls and Joseph slept there. Nathan, our boys, and all the other uncles partied at Ben's place overnight. One last boy's game night was a necessity before Adam was married.)
The next day we played and played with cousins and other relatives. Sarah spent the day with her Aunties visiting Gardener's Village, a unique shopping destination in Utah. They didn't purchase anything, but had a grand time exploring and admiring all the cute or clever products. I spent the day helping various cousins.
It's such a rare treat to be around so much family, and my heart just soaks it all up.
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